*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This review is intended for those who have seen this movie already.

In summary the movie was well considered, and the convergence of the characters was done without any noticeable problem. As the story revealed itself, it produced some powerful scenes and thrilling moments.

The movie touched on just enough uncomfortable activities such as rape, violence, racism and corporate malpractice to make the movie engaging.

However, I believe as the viewer of this film, it would have been MUCH more powerful if we saw a change in Lisbeth’s character. At the end of the movie, its uncomfortable for me to see her being entertained by the same things the entertained the people she investigated.

Lisbeth’s character should have evolved. What lessons have we learned from the film? Did she not learn anything from Mikael? What should have happened in my eyes is that after she let the murderer burn and have Mikael give his thoughts on the matter, there should have been another opportunity for Lisbeth to make a mends as a person.

This would have substantiated her theory of “everyone has the same chance and make their choices in life”. It would have been nice to see her face the same situation between saving someone bad or letting them burn, and to see her make that decision to not be the “punisher” in life.

To have a final scene of her walking away with money as a result of a corporation profiting from third-world drug cartels was a big disappointment and didn’t do her powerful role justice. She did not learn anything, and it leaves us sitting there in discomfort as we being dealt the ridiculous lesson of “If someone does you bad, then you should do the same or worse back”.

I actually think it would have been nice also to have been given more detail as to why she burnt her own father. We know why, but there was so much detail in her subsequent actions in life that we can’t compare it to much about how bad she was treated.

The scene with the mother could have been more powerful, and would have been a great opportunity to flash back to the horrors of abusive husband. The balance wasn’t there, we know more about HER horrific behavior than that of her father. It was too imbalanced.

If this movie ends up having sequels, then a better ending would have been Lisbeth handing over her medical file instead of the corporate file and have Mikael learn about her OR still have her give her investigation of the corporate file but end with the start of Mikael typing on his laptop. We don’t need to be dragged into another story and then they rush through scenes of another investigation.

It so unfortunate that everything else was so good, but the movie failed so horribly in it’s ability to teach us anything good. But, it was definitely an entertaining 2 1/2 hours but its sad I can walk away with hope for myself and others.

8/10

I’ve just finished developing a product with Gail Geronimos at Achaeus featuring the launch of her new book “Our Internet Secrets”, the video from our workshop in March – “How to Boost Sales Using the Internet which is a 6-Disc DVD set which I also produced.

I am also a guest speaker at at the March workshop on Day 1 and am also one of the panelists for the website makeover session. My talk revolves around the use of technology to automate your marketing, demystifying the jargon and I introduce some quick and easy tools to check the performance of your website against your competitors.

If your interested in finding out more about how to boost your sales using the Internet, click here

I’ll be posting photos, video and information about this years 2009 Ekka Races Day event, so keep an eye out for updated information there so bookmark it!

I’ve set up a website hoping to help people find the right links about cat registration

I have lots of people asking me about how I get so much exposure online and where they can find out more about how to use the Internet for their business. If you are interested in getting more exposure online and want to know how to really get more leads and sales, then you really should come to this content rich 3-day workshop.

I will be speaking on Day 1 about technology and what options businesses have and what to consider. I’ll also be talking about automation using technology and how you can really leverage on it to save time and money.

Other speakers include:
Gail Geronimos (Achaeus)- Gail will be showing each step of the process in detail about how to get leads and convert them to sales
Andrew and Daryl Grant – Successful Internet Marketers who will be sharing what goes on behind their business.
Monte Huebsch (Aussie Web) – Is a Google expert and will be talking about Adwords, SEO and Web 2.0 technologies.
David Smerdon (Vision 6) – David will be discussing the benefits of using email marketing as a small business

Click below if you’re interested in coming, I highly recommend it if you’re considering doing anything on the internet or wanting to get your business website cracking.

http://www.getonlinein09.com/achaeus

I’ll keep YOU up to date.

EDIT: Site is back up and i’ve updated to the new software which offers some exciting features. Check it out at http://christianbowman.com/photostore

After weeks of inactivity, this is all I have to post right now!

An extra breath was held in anticipation of the announcement of the winner of the 2008 Modaitalia Scholarship as judges took extra time to decide on a winner. The Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE (MSIT) and the Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) in their 6th edition of Modaitalia, have attracted a record number of entries for the coveted $7,000 fashion prize. After a preliminary judging at the MSIT “Pret-a-moda” event earlier this month, Ben Garrett of West End in Brisbane won the prestigious Modaitalia scholarship consisting a flight to Italy and a summer course at the world-renowned Polimoda Institute in Florence. The Modaitalia 2008 final event was held at The Old Museum Building in Brisbane on October 29, 2008.

Entrants in the modaitalia competition were briefed to use Italian culture as the inspiration for their designs, and Ben Garret’s says his work was inspired by “Murano Glass and the simple elegance of the designs”. Christian Bowman an upcoming fashion photographer who has covered the event from behind the lens for the last three years says (referring to one of Garret’s dresses), “I’ve never seen white and simplicity used so beautifully”.

Christian Bowman from Bowman Digital was the online media partner for the event and fashion photos from both the preliminary judging and the final parade will be available after October 31st, 2008. There will also be a fashion video streamed online for the first time in the history of the event featuring and exclusive interview with the winner Ben Garrett.

Today was the first IFAW National Whale Day. I took some photos last week of some high profile people who have donated their time to help promote Whale Day 2008.

The picture above was of Sofie Formica from Channel 7, and this was taken at Brisbane Powerhouse.

Click here for more information about National Whale Day.